1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auger type ice-making machine which manufactures chip-form or flake-form ice by freezing ice-making water that is supplied to the interior of an ice-making cylinder while rotating an auger in the interior of the ice-making cylinder via a geared motor.
2. Related Background Art
Various sorts of auger type ice-making machines have been proposed in the past (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-2645 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S59-18363). In such auger type ice-making machines, an auger (screw) is supported rotatably inside a tubular ice-making cylinder between an ice compression head (also known as a fixed blade) that is disposed in the upper portion of the ice-making cylinder and a housing that is disposed in the lower portion of the ice-making cylinder. Then, while ice-making water that is supplied to the interior of the ice-making cylinder is frozen, the auger rotates via a geared motor connected to the lower end portion of the auger inside the housing, so that sherbet ice produced by the freezing of this ice-making water is introduced into the ice compression head. This sherbet ice is compressed by the ice compression head to produce chip-form or flake-form ice.
A belt-form heater for precipitating the discharge of ice from the ice compression head is attached to the upper portion of the freezer casing of such an auger type ice-making machine. This heater is used to slightly melt the surface of the ice that is compressed in the ice compression head so that the ice can be easily discharged from the ice compression head. Conventionally, a film-form or tape-form silicone cord heater or silicone mold heater is used as the heater, and is wrapped around the outer peripheral surface of the ice compression head accommodating portion of the ice-making cylinder.
However, when such a heater is wrapped irregularly or wrapped around an attachment part (the upper outer peripheral surface of the ice-making cylinder) having a complex form (with stepped surface), adhesion thereof to the attachment part may be poor, as a result of which the heat from the heater may not be sufficiently transmitted to the ice compression head through the ice-making cylinder, and the heater may not be able to function sufficiently as a melting heater. Another concern is that due to the lack of adhesion, the heater may overheat, hastening the deterioration of the silicone and causing electric leakage and wire breakage.